The present invention relates to a moveable seat assembly for a vehicle and more particularly to a moveable seat assembly that can be moved to allow easy access to a third row seat or a cargo storage area.
It is becoming increasingly more common in passenger vehicles, such as sport utility vehicles and mini-vans, to include a third row seat or seats. Commonly, the vehicle includes a pair of front doors and a pair of rear doors located adjacent the front and second row of seats, respectively. The third row seat typically is a single bench seat extending across the width of the vehicle. The third row seat is commonly located at the generally furthermost rear portion of the vehicle and is not located adjacent a door opening. Thus, passengers do not have direct access to the third row seat.
To provide access to the third row seat or a rear storage area, it is known to have one or more of the second row seat assemblies movable to a forwardly folded position adjacent the front row of seats, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,135,555. The second row seat assembly is folded such that the seat back is first folded downwardly on top of the seat bottom, and then both are pivoted about a pivot point at a lower front edge of the seat bottom to approximately 90 degrees. The seat back of the second row seat assembly will then be positioned between the seat bottom and the seat back of the front row seat. The passenger can then enter the vehicle via one of the rear doors, and slip past the folded second row seat assembly, thereby permitting access to the third row seat. However, movement of such a second row seat is often difficult and cumbersome. Additionally, the area of ingress and egress through the rear door opening is often uncomfortably small for a typical vehicle occupant to transit because of the positioning of the folded second row seat assembly.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to provide a vehicle seat assembly that allows a user to more easily gain access to a third-row seat or easier access to the rear cargo area.
This invention relates to a seat assembly for a vehicle that has a rear seat positioned behind the seat assembly. The seat assembly includes a seat bottom that is movable between a seating position and a forward position. In the seating position, the seat bottom is in a generally horizontal position for supporting an occupant seated on the seat assembly. In the forward position the seat bottom is in a generally vertical position such that a rear edge of the seat bottom is positioned above a front edge of said seat bottom. The seat assembly also has a seat back that is movable between a seating position and a second position. In the seating position the seat back is in a generally lateral position relative to the vehicle for supporting an occupant seated on said seat assembly. In the second position the seat back extends longitudinally relative to the vehicle to permit access to a rear seat positioned behind said seat assembly.
Various objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment, when read in light of the accompanying drawings.